weekend plans

Well tomorrow could be interesting as Arty is in season and is a raging flirt, so she could be a bit embarrassing ?. She scowled at Pebbles half way round our hack this afternoon and then when I got back, as soon as I had I removed her tack she marched over to Dabs and presented herself to him...
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???
 
Kira kicked off her weekend with hacking club. she thought it was the pits and moaned and groaned all the way round. She's only really enjoyed hacking with a friend's sec C who she thought was the bee's knees, or ponying off Millie. anyway, the legwork has been done and it's back in the security of her big sandpit for the weekend.

Grumblebum
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Darcy has discovered girls and is spending his field time cartwheeling around trying to impress the ones next door, one broodmare and one barren, he clearly has plans for them both :rolleyes:
 
She's a very pretty spotty tart @DabDab, her looking at you over her neck is making me laugh :D
Kira needs to come and visit and try hacking club over here MP, a few good beach gallops and I recon she'd start to see the appeal ;). Or hate it even more!

My amazing YO ended up schooling Mads today, and then gave me a quick lesson afterwards. Mad went really really incredibly well for her, turns out all I need to do is totally change everything about how I ride ?.
Her jump saddle has dropped in front slightly so I need to have a quick fiddle with that tomorrow, the saddler is coming Monday so I'm hoping to collar him to have a look at it.
 
I wish there was a magic potion (alcohol?) that would stop the sheer terror I feel coming down to a 60cm upright. This horse never puts a foot wrong and couldn’t be more simple to jump yet I’m still just a bag of nerves, especially today!


Anyway managed to avoid a meltdown and finished on a very tiny course, would help if I presented him at a fence straight in order to jump straight ? Landed disunited on the last but I’m not worrying about that as it’s rare now and he quite often lands on a clean left lead when he should be right so I don’t think the ligament is bothering him.

Bless the horse, he looks bored stiff of me. The days of low level BE feel a very long way away at the moment, I feel like a complete sack of potatoes.

 
Ambers Echo said:
You look fine! Neat, rhythmic and organised. He's popping them all very sweetly. X
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Thanks, I just feel soooo wobbly. My legs literally go to jelly its horrid, and I forgot to properly steer etc. I don't get what I'm so afraid of, I've fallen off this horse jumping twice in 4 years, one horse fall and one hunting fall so what makes me so nervous fgs! I lost the plot today because he took a long one and I got bounced out of the saddle, I was no where near falling but that's all it takes for me to go completely backwards.

It doesn't fit with my general personality either, I'm not a nervous person with other sports such as skiing. It's strange.
 
After a rather exciting start to trying to go XC schooling (which involved having to get and angle grinder to cut off the wheel lock because I’ve lost the trailer keys and there’s no spare for that lock...) it was a bit of a mixed bag if I’m honest and I don’t know how to feel about it. Just trying to remember that this is his first time XC schooling since last summer, both our first times XC schooling completely solo (aka. nobody on foot) and first time away from home in months. Edited the highlights reel from the GoPro if anyone is interested!

The good bits to take away: His jump feels fantastic. My confidence has definitely improved somewhat, and we did some fences I definitely would have chickened out of last year. Did his first ever log drop into water and didn’t bat an eyelid. Jumped some decent sized corners with flower pots on (eventually...), which is one of my most hated fence types.
 
iknowmyvalue said:
After a rather exciting start to trying to go XC schooling (which involved having to get and angle grinder to cut off the wheel lock because I’ve lost the trailer keys and there’s no spare for that lock...) it was a bit of a mixed bag if I’m honest and I don’t know how to feel about it. Just trying to remember that this is his first time XC schooling since last summer, both our first times XC schooling completely solo (aka. nobody on foot) and first time away from home in months. Edited the highlights reel from the GoPro if anyone is interested!

The good bits to take away: His jump feels fantastic. My confidence has definitely improved somewhat, and we did some fences I definitely would have chickened out of last year. Did his first ever log drop into water and didn’t bat an eyelid. Jumped some decent sized corners with flower pots on (eventually...), which is one of my most hated fence types.
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Well that all sounds very positive to me, especially after a break.
 
Michen said:
I wish there was a magic potion (alcohol?) that would stop the sheer terror I feel coming down to a 60cm upright. This horse never puts a foot wrong and couldn’t be more simple to jump yet I’m still just a bag of nerves, especially today!


Anyway managed to avoid a meltdown and finished on a very tiny course, would help if I presented him at a fence straight in order to jump straight ? Landed disunited on the last but I’m not worrying about that as it’s rare now and he quite often lands on a clean left lead when he should be right so I don’t think the ligament is bothering him.

Bless the horse, he looks bored stiff of me. The days of low level BE feel a very long way away at the moment, I feel like a complete sack of potatoes.

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You have super hands and a lovely stable seat, cut yourself some slack woman!
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I’ve dusted off my body protector and dug out the Cross Country Boots which have been long abandoned and forgotten at the bottom of the boot box.

Five year old Podrick is going Cross Country Schooling for the first time. I can feel myself starting to look at BE Schedules with a little excitement again. Better see if he likes the job first ?
 
Michen said:
Thanks, I just feel soooo wobbly. My legs literally go to jelly its horrid, and I forgot to properly steer etc. I don't get what I'm so afraid of, I've fallen off this horse jumping twice in 4 years, one horse fall and one hunting fall so what makes me so nervous fgs! I lost the plot today because he took a long one and I got bounced out of the saddle, I was no where near falling but that's all it takes for me to go completely backwards.

It doesn't fit with my general personality either, I'm not a nervous person with other sports such as skiing. It's strange.
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Is it not nerves about his injury /fear of reinjury?
I know when I've had a dog injury I'm very tense when running them, constantly watching them standing/getting up etc. Only cure is time doing it :)
 
KEK said:
Is it not nerves about his injury /fear of reinjury?
I know when I've had a dog injury I'm very tense when running them, constantly watching them standing/getting up etc. Only cure is time doing it :)
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Sadly not, I’ve always been like this ?
 
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Michen said:
I wish there was a magic potion (alcohol?) that would stop the sheer terror I feel coming down to a 60cm upright. This horse never puts a foot wrong and couldn’t be more simple to jump yet I’m still just a bag of nerves, especially today!


Anyway managed to avoid a meltdown and finished on a very tiny course, would help if I presented him at a fence straight in order to jump straight ? Landed disunited on the last but I’m not worrying about that as it’s rare now and he quite often lands on a clean left lead when he should be right so I don’t think the ligament is bothering him.

Bless the horse, he looks bored stiff of me. The days of low level BE feel a very long way away at the moment, I feel like a complete sack of potatoes.

Click to expand...

Just wanted to say that I relate to jumping nerves so much. I have never been amazing jumping, but these days anything more than a tiny cross makes me feel so anxious. It's not my pony- he's absolutely super to jump and loves it- and I've been like this for a while since before I bought him.

You look great, and I know for me, the more I do it successfully, the better it gets. But also don't force it! It's fine just to do whatever's in your comfort zone!
 
Deza is back from her second fun ride where she was even better behaved than the first. A child could manage her at the show ground and she was much less looky today. I've decided to see if she would like to jump, because she gave me that impression today and I could enjoy popping a few 70/80s.

Does anyone want to do the next Daresbury one with me, I'd like some company and none of my friends want to go?

Setting off at 10.30 tomorrow to pick up the new guy.
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Had a fantastic jumping clinic. Trainer had us working on the 12 ft canter stride, which was super useful for me because I can be a bit bad for trying to over collect her, while she balances best at an almost gallop.

But the really fab thing about today is that it is the first time in years I've started to really feel like my old self jumping. With Dabs being naturally so funny about coloured poles, and me only riding him for so long, I started to obsess over the jumps - the height, the colour, the width, the shadow cast by the wings...- and even though Arts is pretty genuine, I just couldn't get out of the habit. But today something started to click in my brain and I just stopped looking at the jumps other than to pick my line. It was heaven, just cruising around and not worrying about the fences. Hurray!

Arty was a star as always and we just need to work on the roundness over the 'correct' sized canter stride for homework. Unfortunately when I got home I noticed she had picked up a little girth rub. So a couple of days off for her now and I need to get her a sheepskin long girth

Sorry, no pics as I was on my own. Happy weekend all.
 
Today me and the Spanish Potato did this!

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This is actually quite a big thing ?. She used to really dislike hacking, and once (infamously) had me off 3 times on one hack and I'm normally quite stickable!

My new yard has direct off road hacking and she loved it! Here is to hopefully many more successful hacks.
 
ycbm said:
Does anyone want to do the next Daresbury one with me, I'd like some company and none of my friends want to go?

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When is it? I might for fitness.

We had a good lesson, we were both a little stiff and rusty about the whole flat work concept, but it came together nicely, hes taking his neck more and more out, and the self carriage is improving too - clever cobble
 
ycbm said:
Deza is back from her second fun ride where she was even better behaved than the first. A child could manage her at the show ground and she was much less looky today. I've decided to see if she would like to jump, because she gave me that impression today and I could enjoy popping a few 70/80s.

Does anyone want to do the next Daresbury one with me, I'd like some company and none of my friends want to go?

Setting off at 10.30 tomorrow to pick up the new guy.
.
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When is the Daresbury one? Skylla will jog the whole way but is normally beyond polite x
 
Michen said:
Thanks, I just feel soooo wobbly. My legs literally go to jelly its horrid, and I forgot to properly steer etc. I don't get what I'm so afraid of, I've fallen off this horse jumping twice in 4 years, one horse fall and one hunting fall so what makes me so nervous fgs! I lost the plot today because he took a long one and I got bounced out of the saddle, I was no where near falling but that's all it takes for me to go completely backwards.

It doesn't fit with my general personality either, I'm not a nervous person with other sports such as skiing. It's strange.
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It looks absolutely fine. I think you are over analysing it all and I wonder if you are not riding in the present. If you are truly present then you are riding what you have, except that mistakes will happen and move on from them. I think it’s interesting when I have spoken to people about what makes Andrew Nicholson and Piggy French so good is that they are always present. They could have fallen off the previous horse but they get on the next and put it out of their mind and move on.

I think I would invest in a sports psych-
I had some help in 2019 and actually I found it really helpful. I now have strategies to help me when under stress and I use them a lot. I have also worked very hard at trying to stay present. Interesting in that I am incredibly good at it on flat and xc but allow my mind to wander in sj as the area that I am not so rational about.
 
It's only been a week or so off, but it felt so good to be back out doing this!

She started off feeling incredibly powerful behind, but a combination of heat and lack of fitness meant she was really lagging by the end of it and came home distinctly sweaty, despite the whole hack being done in walk. She was sweatiest on her neck, where her summer coat has come in, so I think it's going to be year-round clipping this year. Ick.

(I also played with my new Ghost XL hat cam, and I'm pretty pleased with it. It was running for about 90 minutes, and still says it's got 75% battery charge. Image quality isn't going to win any Oscars, but it was more than enough to get the licence plate and driver face when a car swung round a corner without looking and nearly hit my hacking buddy. Big downside is that, in bright sunlight, the recording LED somehow reflects into the recording, so I may have to experiment with ways to cover it up.)

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Podrick’s first time XC schooling was a success.

He was expectedly baby wobbly at first, but jumped and gained in confidence as we went.
Steps?
Trakehner ?
Paddling in the water ?
Jumping out the water?

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We did have to get the long line out for the bigger coffins and dropping into water. But once he’d popped in the once he was in and out like a pro ?

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We’ll be going back in a week or two to do it all again to reinforce what he learnt. And that will include standing on the lorry afterward patiently. But what fun to be out again!
 
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